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Our History

The School of Advanced Study, founded by the University of London in August 1994 as a federation of nine of the University's research institutes in the humanities and social sciences, was officially opened on 15 March 1995.

Many of its institutes already functioned as centres of international excellence to facilitate advanced study in their respective fields for the benefit of the national and international scholarly communities as a whole.

The constituent institutes of the School range in age from the Institute of Historical Research (founded in 1921) to the Institute of Philosophy (founded in 2005).

School of Advanced Study Milestones

1994: Launch of the School

1995: The School is officially opened on 15 March 1995 by Sir Anthony Kenny

1997: Opening of the third floor of Senate House

2004-2005: The School celebrates its tenth anniversary

2004: Creation of the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas

2005: Creation of the Institute of Musical Research and the Institute of Philosophy

2005-2009: Senate House and Stewart House Redevelopment Project

2006: The School undergoes its quinquennial Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding review, chaired by Sir Ivor Crewe

2007: The School announces the successful outcome of the HEFCE funding review

2008: The national mission of the School is redefined

2009: The School moves into new premises in Senate House

2012: The School undergoes its quinquennial Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding review, chaired by Professor Edward Acton

2013: The School announces the successful outcome of the HEFCE funding review; the Acton Report declared that public funding for the School would be continued at the current level on the basis of a rolling five-year grant

2013: The Institute for the Study of the Americas is closed and the Institute of Latin American Studies is established in its place. The Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies is renamed the Institute of Modern Languages Research

2015: The School celebrates the twentieth anniversary of its official opening